A Playbook

The 3R Energy System

A simple rhythm so you never run on empty. Review what is draining you, recharge across four dimensions, and relaunch with a clear intention for what comes next.

The AI Implementation Toolkit: run your own 3R cycle

This page teaches the 3R Energy System so you understand it at a glance. The AI Implementation Toolkit is where you actually run it on your own life. It is a separate file you download and bring into your own AI.

  1. Download the file.
  2. Open your AI tool, whether that is ChatGPT, Claude, or any other AI you use.
  3. Upload it, and it walks you through your own Review, Recharge, and Relaunch.
Part 1 of 2

Run one 3R cycle

Review the period honestly, recharge the battery, and relaunch with a clear intention. The three steps run in order, at whichever scale you are on.

Do this proactively, not reactively. Do not wait until you are tired to practise the three Rs, because by then it is already too late. Run the cycle on a schedule, before you are running low.
Step 1

Review: look at the period honestly

Review is data. You look at what went well, what did not, and pull the lesson out.

Marc's words

"Review is data. What went well, what didn't, remove the emotion and keep the lesson."

Start with a light energy audit. List the recurring activities that actually filled the period, not the idealized version. For each one, notice whether it filled you or drained you. Marc's own question is simple: which activities made you feel more alive, and which left you more emptied?

Fills you

The activities you finish feeling more alive. These are the ones to protect and grow.

Drains you

The activities you finish feeling more emptied. These are the ones to adjust, reduce, or hand off.

Then answer three honest questions about the period. What actually went well. What could have gone better. And the honest lesson underneath it. This last one is the heart of Review. Strip the emotion out and keep the lesson. If you get stuck in the feeling itself, frustration, guilt, or disappointment, acknowledge it, then ask what the lesson is once the feeling is set aside.

Review can pull in an outside read too. Marc names seeking feedback from others as part of this step, so where it helps, ask a mentor, a partner, or a trusted peer for an honest reflection on the period. An outside view often sharpens the lesson in a way self-reflection alone cannot.

Step 2

Recharge: refill the battery

Recharge is the battery, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. In Marc's words, you cannot run on empty.

Marc's rule: match the rest to the type of tired. Mental stress needs mental rest, not just more physical activity. Someone who rests their body while their head keeps spinning on unsolved problems wakes up just as tired. So first name the type of tired you are, then choose the rest that actually matches it.

There are four dimensions to recharge. Weight your recharge toward whichever one is most depleted right now, not the one that feels easiest or most familiar.

Physical

Rest the body

Sleep, fasts, massage, stretches, plus nutrition and movement.

Emotional

Do what you enjoy

Fun and enjoyment, the things you love, friends, trips.

Mentalmost neglected

Clear the head

Silence, nature, a social media detox, meditation. Marc calls this the most neglected of the four.

Spiritual

Reconnect to meaning

Deepen your relationship with God, the Universe, or the divine, realign your purpose, give thanks.

This is a suggested guide, not a fixed rule. For real health decisions, talk to your own doctor or a licensed professional.
Marc's words

"Burnout doesn't always arrive as exhaustion. Sometimes it arrives as nothing on your calendar that you actually want to do."

So keep one real thing on your calendar you are looking forward to, a trip, a meal, a call with a friend. Burnout often shows up quietly, as a week full of obligations with nothing on it you actually want, so a single thing to look forward to is part of the recharge.

A quick check: are you doing the right type of rest for the type of tired you actually are?
Step 3

Relaunch: set the next intention

Relaunch is intention. You decide, on purpose, what the next block is about.

Set one clear intention for what comes next, then narrow it to your top three to five priorities. Keep it to a real number you can actually hold, not a long wish list.

Then decide what needs to change in how you run your days to make room for those priorities. That might mean adjusting a routine, or clearing something off the calendar entirely. Relaunch is not only picking new goals, it also means decluttering what is not serving the next period.

What you get

What you walk away with: your 3R plan

Here is the shape of what you build in the AI Implementation Toolkit. One honest cycle, plus the rhythm that keeps it running. The cycle repeats, always in the same order.

1

Review

The data

Look at what went well, what didn't, and keep the honest lesson.

2

Recharge

The battery

Refill what is actually depleted, matched to the type of tired you are.

3

Relaunch

The intention

Set the focus and the top priorities for the next block.

Then run it again, proactively, before you are tired. Hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and once a quarter.

My 3R Plan Sample
Your relaunch
Honest lessonThe one lesson underneath what went well and what could have gone better.
Next intentionYour clear focus for the next block, in one line.
Top prioritiesYour top three to five, a number you can actually hold.
To declutterWhat you are adjusting or clearing to make room.
Look forward toOne thing on the calendar you actually want.
Your 3R rhythm
HourlyBox breathing between deep work blocks
DailyShutdown routine at 6pm, then the night routine
WeeklyWeekly review, Friday 4pm, and date night
MonthlyMassage, first Saturday, plus a monthly review
QuarterlyTwo day retreat, first week of the quarter
Your daily routines
MorningWater, cold shower, coffee and the day, then deep work
ShutdownBreathe, journal the day, plan tomorrow, say "shut down"
NightWash up, bodycare, stretch, catch up with a loved one

A sample. The rhythm and routine entries shown are Marc's own examples. Your relaunch lines are yours to fill in when you run the cycle in the AI Implementation Toolkit.

Part 2 of 2

Build your 3R rhythm

The three Rs are not a one time reset. You run the same cycle all the time, at five scales, and only the duration and depth change. This is where the rhythm keeps running without relying on willpower.

Proactive, not reactive. Schedule the rhythm before you are tired, so recovery is built into how you perform, not a repair job after you burn out.

Your 3R rhythm, at five scales

The same cycle runs at five scales. Use Marc's own activities below as a menu, then in the AI Implementation Toolkit you decide what you will actually do at each scale, and when.

Hourly, or moreSeconds to minutes

Marc's examples

Deep BreathingMeditationCold ShowersVisualisation
DailyAround ten minutes

Marc's examples

Shut Down RoutineNight Routine
WeeklyTwo to four hours

Marc's examples

Social Media DetoxDatesSocial GatheringsPlanning and Reviewing for the Week
MonthlyAround half a day

Marc's examples

MassageMonthly ReviewsFull Day Out
QuarterlyA one to two day retreat

Marc's examples

Staycations or HolidaysLearning RetreatsPriority and Goal Setting

Your 3 daily routines: morning, shutdown, night

At the daily scale, the three Rs live inside three anchor routines. Use Marc's own versions as a template, then test and adjust each one until it fits you.

Morning routine
Marc's version
  • Wake up and drink water (5 to 10 mins)
  • Wash up and cold shower (5 to 10 mins)
  • Drink coffee and look at the day's activities (5 to 10 mins)
  • Then start deep work
Watch out: the morning routine can quietly become procrastination. Do the hardest and most important task first. Tips that help: place your alarm away from the bed, keep your phone off for the first 30 to 60 minutes, wake at a consistent time, and keep water by the bed.
Shutdown routine
Marc's versioninspired by Cal Newport's Deep Work
  • Deep breathing (5 mins)
  • Review the day by journalling (5 mins)
  • Plan the next day (5 to 10 mins)
  • Shut the laptop and say the word Shut Down

This is what lets you leave work behind and be present in the evening, instead of going home still switched on with a spinning head.

Night routine
Marc's version
  • Bathe and wash up (10 mins)
  • Bodycare (10 mins)
  • Stretching (10 mins)
  • Catch up with a loved one (10 to 15 mins)
  • Prepare to sleep (5 mins)

Marc says this is the hardest of the three to hold, and the most important, because it sets up both your rest and how the next morning begins.

The 10-3-2-1-0 sleep strategy

A simple wind-down countdown to protect your sleep, credit to Brendon Burchard. Treat it as a target to move toward, not a test to pass on the first night.

10hours before bed, no more stimulants like caffeine.
3hours before bed, no more food, alcohol, or beverages other than water.
2hours before bed, no more work, and shut off your work electronics.
1hour before bed, no more electronics, all phones, TVs, and computers off.
0you hit snooze zero times the next morning.

Schedule your 3R rhythm into your calendar

Schedule all of the above into your calendar as soon as you can. Put the 3R sessions in first, as big rocks, alongside exercise and family, before business fills the gaps.

If it is not scheduled on your calendar, it is not a priority. If the big rocks go in first, the rest of life arranges around them. If you wait for a free gap to appear, the gap never comes.
Keep this

The 3R Energy System on one page

A quick recap you can save or print, so the whole system fits in a glance.

The rhythm, in short

Review, Recharge, Relaunch, always in that order, run proactively before you are tired.

  • Review is data. What went well, what didn't, remove the emotion and keep the lesson.
  • Recharge is the battery. Match the rest to the type of tired, across physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual.
  • Relaunch is intention. One clear focus, three to five priorities, and clear out what is not serving the next block.
  • Run it at five scales. Hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, and once a quarter. Only the depth changes.
  • Protect three daily routines. Morning, shutdown, and night, with the 10-3-2-1-0 wind-down guarding your sleep.
  • Big rocks first. If it is not on the calendar, it is not a priority yet.
Your AI Implementation Toolkit

Now run the 3R Energy System on your own life

You have read the system. The AI Implementation Toolkit is where you actually run it. It walks you through your own Review, Recharge, and Relaunch, then helps you build the rhythm and get it onto your calendar. It works with ChatGPT, Claude, or any AI you use.

To be clear, this page teaches the 3R Energy System. The AI Implementation Toolkit is a separate file you download and bring into your own AI, where it guides you through the same three Rs on your own situation.

  1. Download the file.
  2. Open your AI tool, whether that is ChatGPT, Claude, or any other AI you use.
  3. Upload it, and it guides you through your own three Rs.
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